Serendipitous
by MisterPelican
Summary: One summer, one boy, and one cat? Dakota Brooks, an average teenage girl, is given the story every girl wants, and as it turns out, she doesn't want it. But, her attempts to realign her stars and sow another reaping aren't enough for a season of romance (and maybe a Maine Coon).


And unto us all,  
Serendipity.

_Serendipity: the accidental discovery of something pleasant, valuable, or useful. Few things in this world can be serendipitous; I know that by experience alone. Often times, that which is 'serendipitous' is most likely predicted; again, I know this from experience. "No, teacher, I'm not going to do well on the test." "Oh my, an A! How serendipitous." Yea, no.  
Honestly, I hated that word, because I always found a reason to undo that word. Or, when my father told me it was serendipitous that I had the same face as my mother. No, there's a thing called genetics. It's not rocket science. Just regular science.  
Let's get down to the point, shall we? That word. That simple, stupid word, shall be the death of me, only because it defines __the life of me.__ Doesn't make sense? Didn't think so…_

CHAPTER ONE: Apprehension

_The feeling of anxiety or fear that something bad will happen._

"Dakota!"  
I pretended to ignore her. I rolled over in my bed and pulled my duvet over my head. The smell of my shampoo still lingered on my pillow. I shut my eyes, trying to recall my dream. I was sitting in the back of an old school bus, feeling the bumps on the road as my head vibrated against the window.

"DA-KO-TAAA!"

We turn left, making our way down the winding road to school. Children are playing games in the front, agitating the bus driver. My friends are a few seats ahead, trading their share of gossip.

"Jesus Christ Dakota, get up! You have to go help Mitchell at the dock! There's going to be a bunch of kids at his party tonight and he has to make sure everything on the boat is adolescent-safe."

Proof that my dream, is merely just a dream? Today, June 13th, marks the first day of summer vacation.

I walked down stairs into the kitchen. The old rustic blue walls were tearing at the corners. The floor was a very light wood. My mother, Chris, whose not biologically my mother, paced around the kitchen counter a few times before asking me if I was going to 'attend' this party of my brother's, who, also, is not biologically related to me. My real mother died when I was too young to remember. It didn't take long for my father to remarry, and it also didn't take long for him to pass, either. So now, it's just me and these two people who live in this small, two-story building out in the middle of nowhere. And by 'nowhere,' I mean a deserted little town in Ironwood, Michigan. It's clean, pretty, but lonely.  
As Jack's Mannequin once said, "Have you ever felt alone in crowded room?" Yup.

I slipped out of the house before Chris could yell at me a second time. With my studded little flats tapping the ground rhythmically as I paced down the dirt road that leads to the dock, I remembered my dream that occurred this morning. The dusty feeling of the old bus, the murmur of laughter, and school. Unlike most teens, I actually enjoyed going to school. I missed the serenity that came along with it and the quiet rush from one classroom to another between classes ending and beginning. After all, it was much more than having nothing to do all day, letting the heat stop me from the occasional lounging in our front yard, face pressed to a book. I have very sensitive skin, dotted with little freckles that perfectly matched my naturally awry hair, with curls every which way. I take time in the morning to furiously brush it down to a calm wave.

My feet met the eerie creak of the dock's boards, and I walked along the main structure until I saw Mitchell, out in the distance. He was crouching around the boat, as if he was looking for something. I felt my heavy stride as I walked the slightly downward side-dock.

"And what might you be doing?"  
"Ah! Kota! You're good with animals, aren't you?"  
"Not..really.. why, what's your problem?"  
"There's this cat that no matter what I do, it keeps getting on the boat. This boat is my baby-"_ The only reason you have this boat is because my father let you have it.  
_"-I can't have this stray feline ripping stuff up in there. Go get it, and take it far away."

I jumped from the dock onto the huge boat, swaying a little, remembering that water was not my friend. I used to ride in the boat all the time, within the company of my father, who loved to fish. Since his death I haven't once gone swimming, or ridden in this boat. It was clean, I noticed, as I walked through to the main compartment. A room that could hold up to twelve persons. On a counter, in the dark corner, which would later be lit (probably with some scandalous _broad_ sitting on it) was a cat. It was a main coon, and had a beautiful black and white coat.

I inched forward, extending my hand towards this un-amused stray, making the reverse 'T' sound you usually do with animals. "Come on, kitty-kitty-kitty."

It hopped down the counter and meandered towards me, tail high in the air. I lowered myself, now one knee on the cold floor. The cat pushed its soft head into my palm, purring at a low volume, that only my fingertips could feel. With fear of complete rejection, and maybe a few minor scratching, I picked the cat up, letting my hands caress his warm, curly belly hair. He kept purring, kneading his paws into my breasts as I turned him around and held him by the back and bottom. I walked out of the room to the discrete applaud of Mitchell, who now had a smile on his sun-kissed faced.

"The animal tamer, everyone!" He billowed out with laughter. I kept stroking the silky fur of the cat as I returned to the safety of the dock.

"I'm gonna go to the FishTrap to get some food for him. That's probably what he was looking for in there."

He nodded and hopped back onto the boat. The FishTrap was a store placed in close proximity to the lake. Inside it consisted of fishing poles, bait, beer, and snacks.  
Holding the cat as I walked in, the store owner's son, Pete, was manning the counter. He gave me a peculiar look. "There somethin' you hankering for?"

"Yea, do you guys have any tunafish? Like, the food, not the actually fish." _Although I'm sure the cat wouldn't mind._

He left for a moment to come back, slamming a small can down on the countertop. I smiled with relief. Tuna was the only thing I could think of when it came to the cat's appetite. No cat or dog food until the next market, which happened to be over a few miles away. I paid the man and walked outside, worried that this wasn't a brand of tuna the cat was fond of. Even if stray, cats can be picky.

I set the cat down and he sat there, patiently as I tore the top off of the can. I slid the tuna under the cat's nose, and he didn't hesitate to starting eating it. I smiled in appreciation. "Thanks for not being greedy. I know it's not the best stuff. I mean, it was like, a dollar." The cat seems to whip its tail in response. I felt sad about just up and leaving the cat here. I stood and poked my head back into the store, catching Pete's attention. "Something wrong, Kota?"

"Might you know who the cat's owner is?" He stopped a moment, and stared into the distance, as if recalling a memory.

He looked back at me, eyes reflecting my curiosity. "I've never seen that cat around. Maybe it ran away recently? Looks pretty husky to be a stray for long. Maybe look outside the store for flyers?"

I took his advice and popped back outside, into the humid heat. The cat was still there, finishing up the rest of the tuna. I scanned the scrapboard out in front of the store, papers dangling from pins, covering others. Some of them had lost animals on them, but none depicted the cat. I bit my lip, trying to rationalize. I turned and looked at the cat one last before heading back down to the dock, my pace a little faster.

"Mitch!"

He cocked his sweat-beaded towards me. "Wha?"

"Does that cat hang around here often?" I said, lifting my thumb to point back up at the FishTrap.

"I don't know," he said with a smirk, "why don't you ask 'im yourself?"

I furrowed my brow, _why would I…_ But as I turned back to look at the store, something caught my eyes, down at my feet. The cat was sitting an inch away, looking up at me. Then, he looked back at the FishTrap as if to see what I was looking for.

I let out a slightly surprised sigh. "Are you still hungry?" He blinked slowly. I didn't know what that meant in _cat _so I just assumed I was right. I jogged back to the FishTrap and quickly got another can from Pete, no questions asked. I sighed as I walked outside the store, hearing the cha-ching of the bell as the door swung open, and surely enough, the gluttonous cat was sitting right outside the store.

Once again, I peeled the top of the can off and tossed it in the trash. I set the open can on the floor and put my hands on my hips. "There."

This time, the cat sat there, and looked at me, not even giving the food acknowledgement. I knew cats were weird creatures, and often led us _obviously inferior _humans to confusion, but this this made me angry.

I took a deep breath, kneeled down in front of the feline, and starting rubbing him just behind his eyes. His eyes closed as he purred. "Well, fella, the food's right here if you need it." I slid the can to a more safe place for the cat to eat, under one of the wooden tables. Afterwards I stood and left, making one last check on Mitchell. The strain of walking back and forth made the balls of my heels sore. I hopped and skipped my way back Mitch.

"Anything else you need help with?"

He straightened after putting a blue cooler on the boat. He lips made a small line as he brought up his mental checklist. "Well, you can wait here 'till people start showin' up and, um, party?"

"I'm not attending your little boat party."  
"BIG boat party. And why not? It's not like you're unpopular. No one's gonna make fun of you for going. You have friends."

"I'm sure I'd find some way to embarrass myself. I'm not going. It's too hot outside today."

He gave me a look like I was the dumbest person he met. With his arms stretched toward the boat, he yelled, "WATER, Kota! It's this thing that can cool you down!"

I huffed and drawled, "Well,"

He fidgeted, waiting for my reply impatiently.

"I'm not going." I stood my ground, making eye daggers at him. _You're not going to persuade me to go, either._

He shrugged and went back to putting his party favors on the boat. I turned and was about to head home, when something stopped me.  
It was the cat. He looked up at me, and again, closed his eyes very slowly.

"Okay, so the eye closing _doesn't_ mean you're hungry. Well, goodbye kitty, don't get on the boat again, okay?" I smiled as I gently pet his fluffy mane. I stood straight and began walking up the dock.

Leaving the vicinity of the lake, I looked back to see if the little feline was following me. He sat there, in the middle of the dock, swinging his fluffy tail back and forth, watching me stride my way back home.

I heard Mitchell yell from the teetering boat, "You're not gonna keep helping me?"

"You call me if something's wrong. I'll be at the house all day."

I got home around eleven. Chris was sitting on our front porch, eating potato chips from a family size bag. Stopping a second to swallow her food, she looked at me

"Back so early?"  
"Yea, He said everything was fine, and he'd call me if he needs more help."  
"Oh, well then. Are you hungry? I can make you some lunch."  
"No, you look like you're having a good time relaxing. I'm gonna go up to my room and.. read."

I zipped up the stairs and into my little room. All that was upstairs was my room (which used to be my father's office) and a small bathroom. I insisted Chris should take it, but she says it feels more right for me to have it. She and Mitchell's rooms are downstairs, where there is another, bigger bathroom for them. Chris took the room that her and my father shared, while Mitch resided in my old room, the one that we shared when Chris and my father were married.  
Before my mother died, I lived with my parents in a huge Victorian style house further east of Michigan. Father was sucked into a bunch of debt afterwards, so he sold the house, and upon moving in to this house, he met Chris, and he describes it as his 'second chance at love upon first sight.'  
Even if it should be this way, I still feel a little selfish for taking this room.

I plopped down onto my bed, sinking into my pillows. My bed was in the very corner of my empty room. In the corner adjacent from my bed, was my desk, which had books piling up on it. Most of my other books were neatly tucked away in my father's old mahogany bookshelf. I laid on my bed, motionless, staring at my pastel yellow walls with white trim. I felt the breeze from my open window, heard the grey drapes blowing gently, the fabric rubbing against each other.

I was about to drift away, into my dreams, when my phone vibrated from inside my pocket. I slid it out of my Judy Blumes and read the screen.

**Hey babe :p. You goin' to the party? VSRE.**

It was from Nikki, my best friend since third grade. She's quite the opposite of me. Where I rather stay home and relax with some music, she would rather be out meeting new people, and dancing her ass off. She is very outgoing and loud, while I'm quite and have a very small circle of friends.

I texted her back, **What do you think?**

**Well, it's ur brother's freakin' party, I just thought u'd b there. **

**No thank you, I'm not a social bug.**

**Kat's gonna b there. Come on! We'll have fun!**

Kat, short for Katherine, moved here around two years ago, but it feels as if she's been here the longest. She knows everyone's name, and their background story. She became friends with Me and Nikki ever since she forgot our names once when we were in a group study. She found it her mission to learn everything about the two of us.

I stayed staring at the screen of my cellphone, contemplating on what to send Nikki, when I sighed and positions my fingers to text again.

**Great! Stick with Kat! I'll be home if you wanna crash afterwards. Have fun. Xoxo.**

I read about five crying emoticons before I put my phone on my desk and whipped out a book. I've read everything in my room at least twice, so I grabbed an interactive comedy. You read certain parts according to what answer you come up with for the questions.

I got about half way through, laughing occasionally at some answers I haven't read before, when my phone starting ringing. I checked my dock, which lay next to it. It read nine o' clock. _Jesus Christ time flies. Mitchell's party probably already started._ Thinking it was Nikki, I rolled my clear blue eyes and grabbed the device. I answered and snapped,

"I told you I'm not going, you can come here afterwards, but don't bring anyone I don't know."

A moment passed with silence.

"Kota, it's Mitch. I need your help. We're about to leave the dock, and the cat won't get off."

"Get someone else to get him out!"

"No one can, he keeps scratching everyone and he's loud. I don't want him scratching any of the expensive furniture."

Stress began to boil in my brain, and I hung up. I slipped my shoes back on and started downstairs. Chris was leaning against the kitchen wall, drinking some wine. She gave me a shrug and said "I'm gonna need it."

I walked out the front door and into the run down street. _I need a bike._

The walk was slow, and peaceful, until I came upon the dock and began to hear the rumble of teenagers partying. I stopped and steadied myself. _Just go in, get the cat, and come out. _I walked towards the flock of people, feeling the light from the boat strike my face, causing me to squint, adjusting from the darkness.

I kept my pace slow, trying my hardest not to bump into anyone. Not that they noticed my small frame brushing against them, I just had a fear that I tap the wrong shoulder and before I know it, someone is flinging me into the lake. I shimmied and slipped my way through the fog of hormones, and then I saw Mitch standing on the deck of the boat, a paper crown atop his head, a little crooked, and a beer in his hands. I was amazed at how brave (or stupid) he was. He could at least wait until they're out on the lake. There's barely any cops roaming the streets at night here, but there's always an unlucky cop-magnet at every party. _For example – Mitchell._

I called out to him a few times before rolling my eyes and hauling myself to stand in front of him. He glazed over me for a moment, blinked a few times, and then smiled.

"Heeyyy, you made it!"

"Where is the cat?" I snapped.

"Hush hush, my little sister. Temper needs to go down."

"Mitch, you know how much I hate parties. Just tell me where the cat is."

He chuckled and relaxed from his proud stance. "The cat's in there" He said, pointing to the cab.

I turned and went for the doorway, though it was a sad attempt, for I was stopped by a wall of bodies. The pilothouse, which took up 2/3 of the boat, was full of people. _How do they manage to breathe like that?!_

I waited until a reasonable amount of people came out, and soon enough, it was almost empty, due to the 'chugfest' going on outside. I led myself into the room, and started scanning for the cat. After I made sure he wasn't in any of the upper cabinets, and got down on my hands and knees, searching to see if he had scurried under something, scared of the treacherous teenagers bumping and grinding in every which way. I was shuffling around on the floor, calling out to the cat, when I spotted a pair of old combat boots in the corner of my vision.

In a deep, husky voice, they spoke, "Is this what you do in your free time?"

I stopped, eyes locked on his boots, slightly hiding my face with my coiffure. "What's it to you?"

He laughed quietly, then, took a step towards me, as if trying to get a better look at what I was doing.  
"Do you... need any help?"

For a second, I didn't respond, stopping myself from retorting a sharp 'no' because of my pride. "Do you happen to be good with animals?"

"I'm good with dogs."

"And cats?"

"I couldn't say, I don't interact with them too much."

I sighed and decided to keep looking. I crept lower to the ground, looking under the chairs.

"There's probably broken glass on the floor, be careful." There was an ounce of concern in his voice.

I gently turned my head to his direction. I laid my eyes on him, almost taken aback by his physical features. His eyes, a dark green with gold flecks on them, stared straight back at me, unwavering. His jawline, strong and muscular, held tight. His hair, dark, curled up at the ends, making it seem more wild. He was tall, with broad shoulders. His teal shirt stretched tightly across his chests, complimenting his muscles. He black pants, perfectly snug, laid and ruffled over his boots that stood their ground, not moving.

He chuckled, and took another step towards me. I flinched, and quickly returned my view to the floor.  
I felt the air suddenly get warmer as he crouched beside me. He was radiating an unusual amount of warmth.

Just when the moment began to peak at maximum awkward, I spotted the big poof of cat under a counter in the corner. I smiled and crawled towards him. He posture relaxed as I extended my palm for him. He came out from under the chair and rubbed against me. I sneaked a look at Mr. Handsome and he was also smiling. _Maximum_ _Awkward reached. _I decided that was a good time to end our being in the same room.

I scooped the kitty into my arms and stood up. Hustling my way off the boat, I ran into a very confused Nikki. She stood there, mid-smile, as if I interrupted her, looking befuddled as ever.

Assuming by now she was drunk, I grabbed a nearby guy and shoved him between us. Hopefully that would distract her. I jumped and skipped my way out of the people, cuddling the cat into my chest. Once I walked up the dock, I set the cat down and sat next to it. Stroking his fur, I began to laugh.

I leaned back and rested on my arms. I looked at the cat, which was in a little curl, sleeping soundly.

"I see you don't party either."

I stared at him, almost expecting an answer, but then I rolled my eyes back to the sky. The stars dangled above us, twinkling. I've always been interested in astrology, but I've never been motivated enough to actually study it. So, I laid there, staring into the universe, wondering how deep it was. Right before I was about to have an existential crisis, I looked at the cat. He was still sleeping, purring under my stroke. I smiled; it was too cute.

I turned back to look at the blur of lights and bodies. The boat had left, but there was still couple hanging off the boat, swimming, and making a drunken attempt to bump uglies. One of them happened to be Nikki, mackin' it with the male I had shoved in front of her. I wondered if I should feel responsible for the sex conundrum that would happen, but I lacked guilt or remorse, so I shrugged it off. _I'll hear about it tonight anyway._

I decided that it was late and I should get home. I stood up, and because of that, the cat woke up. The look it gave me made my decision for me: I was taking him home tonight. _It's okay, I'll just have him over tonight, and tomorrow I'll post flyers everywhere, I'll make phone calls. _I apologized to the cat before scooping him up, because most cats hated the thought of filthy humans cradling them with their filthy arms. I snuggled him into my chest once again, held him tightly, and started on my way home.


End file.
